John,

In a speech today on Wall Street, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy released his debt ceiling proposal, which is a direct attack on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid -- proposing drastic restrictions that would severely limit eligibility.¹

Speaker McCarthy’s proposed cuts will be devastating to millions of families, the aging, and people with disabilities who rely on SNAP benefits to access their food and Medicaid for their health care. The attacks on these vital programs are egregious, but not new. McCarthy’s speech talked about stiffening “work requirements,” but the proposals now being circulated really are about bureaucratic roadblocks that will harshly time-limit or deny benefits altogether, with no practical route to work. The right-wing has spent decades demanding deep cuts to SNAP, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and more under the guise of deficit reduction -- while at the same time, giving huge tax cuts to their wealthy campaign contributors.

Harshly restricting essential programs for vulnerable communities while continuing to transfer wealth upwards to the richest 1% is unconscionable. Tomorrow is Tax Day. Join CHN and our national allies in telling Congress: Raise taxes on the rich and corporations; don’t cut services for working families. Add your name today >>

The tax cuts enacted under Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump have disproportionately benefited the wealthy and profitable corporations, and are severely reducing federal revenues -- contributing mightily to the national debt. The Bush and Trump tax cuts alone have cost us $10 trillion in revenue over the last two decades. They are responsible for 57% of the increase in the debt as a share of the economy since 2001.²

As a result of these tax cuts, the top individual tax rates are half of what they were 40 years ago and corporate tax revenue -- which at one point was one-third of total federal revenue -- is now less than 10%.^3,4

If Congress wants to reduce the national debt, it should reverse decades of tax cuts for the well-off and well connected -- not cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, child care, education, housing, nutrition, and any other vital investments.

Sign now. Demand Congress raise taxes on the rich and corporations; not cut services for working families.

Thank you for all you do to fight for working families and vulnerable communities,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ McCarthy’s pitch to shrink food aid drawing skepticism from fellow Republicans
² Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio
³ U.S Individual Income Tax: Tax Rates for Regular Tax: Highest Bracket
⁴ Table 14.1—Total Government Receipts in Absolute Amounts and as Percentages of GDP: 1948–2022